Rectangular Heating and Air Conditioning ductwork is assembled or attached together to form a chain to deliver conditioned air from an Air Handler to specific points in a building. The Ductwork is assembled by one of two means known widely in the art. The first means is by the use of “S-Lock” and “Drive-Lock” cleats, which will not be the subject of this invention. The second means incorporates the use of flanges, known in the art as “Ductmate”, “TDC”, or “TDF”. This ductwork is bolted together at each corner, and then the center portions of the ductwork between the corners is either screwed together or clips may be installed to pull the center sections of the flanges together to provide an air tight seal.
Screwing the flanges together is very labor intensive and increases material costs. An alternative to screwing the flanges together is to install, what is commonly known, as “Clips”. The clips sandwich the two opposing flanges together with a ribbon type gasket between the flanges. The clip has an indent on both sides, one side of the clip is longer than the opposing side, and a flat portion on the top, the indents lock in place by encapsulating sheet metal beads formed on each flange. Current technology uses a common tool known in the art as “Vice Grips” to squeeze the flanges together on each side of the “clip”, setting the “clip” in place and then using another tool commonly known as “Channel Locks” to roll the clip into place. This process is also very labor intensive and requires the use of three tools. The “Channel Lock Pliers’ have a strong tendency to slip and twist the clip, rendering the clip unusable. The most common “clips” used in the art are approximately six inches in length and may require several “clips” on each side of the ductwork. The use of “Channel Lock Pliers” also requires the need for “squeezing” the indents in and under the beads on the flange to lock the “clip” in place.